Month: March 2015

The law of diminishing returns, put simply is an economic law that states if one aspect of production is kicked up a notch while everything else remains static or constant, the returns will eventually decrease after a certain point. For example, if a person is very obese and starts a diet, say someone is 400 pounds and losses 100, They may see huge results of that initially, but it’s easier to go from 400 to 300 than from 300 to 200, sometimes doing more work or giving more effort will yield a negative result as opposed to a positive one, and in coaching the same can be said about taking a team from point A to B to C to D… it’s a lot of times the mental parts of the game that are the hardest to deal with. When you have a group that has gone through all phases of the process the hardest part is that conversion from good to ‘great’ been great at what they do and expect success, failure is rare and unexpected and not an option in many of their minds, most of it is in their heads.. sometimes my most important role is to protect them from themselves. It’s a catch 22 really… I just want us to win and lose with class, i don’t want to be the team that’s soft or buckles under pressure – but you can’t develop that without pressure – their was a false sense of success last year at both club and school (both which we have no control over.) we did the best we could do, we have little control over that, all teams lose …. Everybody, but i want to respond without pointing fingers, staying “united”, blaming referees etc… But be able to realize that win, lose or draw a game or a loss does not define us, it doesn’t make up who we are or give us any greater value to our lives or the rest of the world… The confidence comes from the past, it’s not every group- some have ‘it’ and some don’t. We chase consistency, not perfection. When we lose and people knock us down to try to find our flaws – its only because beating us matters, we have something people that don’t… they crave and chase that their whole lives – acceptance, many times they so cause trying to steal that from us is as close as they will ever get… Regardless of our record … Its really about us (not playing for mom, dad, measuring yourself vs. X) the world is an unfair, mean and spiteful place, the better you get the harder it becomes… You can either deal or you can’t…. Its a great life lesson. Most importantly the it preps you to handle that in life… Your real friends are there matter what, they have you back the most, we can’t place our own value in someone else’s thinking, shallow empty comments about how great we are from strangers, etc. Bur instead strip the entire game down to what it is… An incredible group of kids, with a love for playing that game for each other … Not “me” … Something I would truly fight to protect in any situation, and have. A lesson I try to remind myself of everyday… How much would our lives change say if we won 50 in a row, or lost 50 in a row? I mean at that point we may not have a team or whatever, but the record doesn’t sell the process – its an important measurement of the reason why we are invested, but all the other immeasurable areas of the game that keep them coming back. I highly doubt the record is why any “kid” wants to come back to any sport, parents create that illusion… We gotta be able to say, I control what I can control, I play as hard as I can – every play, every day for This TEAM, and each other, if I walk away without the results that i want, i reevaluate my approach and turn the page, great there must have a short memory. People will also ‘want to see you doing well, just not as good as them. I also talk about what i believe to be true in all phases, ages and levels of sports teams- your season many days can be broken down into 3 phases (all personal philosophy/opinion not facts lol) 1/3 games things things happen (200%) twice as good as you really are 1/3 games things things happen (100%) equal to as good as you really are 1/3 games things things happen (50%) half as good as you really are a better word may me fate, luck or ‘how the ball bounces’ can you win in all three phases? can you react well and not be too high, low or emotional in all 3? great times find a way. Sports is so much like real life, are you playing for the world? Are we engaged Interested and motivated for ourselves? Are we who we want to be? More interested in the value others place on us? (ranking) and analyze the “grade”… I don’t think there is a right / wrong”but i learn more and more life is too short to be only focused on the finish line, that will be there either way we will meet it when it gets here… Self sufficient, composed and ready To go to war as anyone …. I first of all have never coached to protect myself, this is very much our journey i make as many mistakes as them, i try to grow with them, its an “us” thing not a “you guys” thing when we fail, i am very much accountable and hold my self at fault for that – because that comes with the job, but the older I’ve gotten the value of each game does not matter as much, the approach is the same – we don’t ever play not to win the game, but just as expect them to focus on making the best decisions best future interest – i look at the cumulative product / not the individual game, all relative, we can win and not get better and lose and find ourselves and grow- so its important to me To not get consumed in that, i can’t react to praise or criticism myself, that is difficult at times, but it’s a weakness to get caught up in either one. I can’t ask them to be vulnerable and encourage mistakes and decision making if I don’t also do so myself, it gives you credibility and establishes a commitment to each other. If they thought it was more about me than them, they naturally wouldn’t play as hard, you need to establish that investment in them for them to reciprocate back at you, kids can read that very quickly, probably can make a judgement within minutes I would say, you develop a track record of supporting them + they will play hard for you, that is established over a long period of time but you can lose it in a heartbeat. You can’t change your attitude towards them because of a result, you’re invested no matter what, we all are on the same page though, and losing only hurts because it’s a commitment we haven’t perfected – and never will, but the dream remains the same. and we chase it…